Pumpkin Tales in Alwarpet has been in news since the time it was launched last year. Be it the all-women crew (including three female founders), specially curated menu, the slow cooking method or the pretty orange and yellow interiors – the eatery has a steady stream of foodies coming in through the day. This year, they have launched a separate bakery section in the ground floor and revamped the menu to include popular global favourites.

We went on a weekday evening and found it fairly occupied. The cheery and vibrant interiors cheered our glum, working day instantly. The exhaustive menu has fairly large vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. They also offer vegan variants of quite a few dishes. We started our meal with Harissa Chicken Wings and Miso tofu with spicy pesto. The tofu was marinated in miso and ginger, grilled to perfection and served with a fresh pesto sauce. The oven roasted chicken wings had deliciously spicy harissa rub and were served with a wonderfully-balanced harissa mayo. This went quite well with their refreshing and punchy pineapple ginger beer.

This was followed by an amazing poke bowl. If you are an Instagram person, then you will absolutely want to click this dish. The colourful ingredients included fresh tuna sashimi, egg, avocado, garlic and ginger on a bed of black rice with a dash of poke sauce. We loved the bowl out and out. It was healthy and delicious-perfect for all those who believe in clean eating. Among the vegetarian options, we tried out the Sphaghetti Pomodoro prepared with three kinds of tomato, grilled aubergine, mozzarella and sphaghetti pasta. It was tangy, adequately cheesy yet light.

Poke Bowl

They also have Umami bowls prepared with quinoa, sprouts and fresh veggies; a Rainbow bowl prepared with veggies, mushroom, spinach, sesame seeds, cauliflower and rice and a MuttonPumpkin bowl with rooasted pumpkin, mutton, scallion and quinoa. For lovers of Asian cuisine, there is plenty on offer from Ramen, Dan Dan Noodles, Singapore Laksa to Mee Goreng, Thai Green Curry and Bibimbap. We opted for the spicy Malay red chicken curry for a change of palate and were not disappointed. Served along with Jasmine rice, the curry had a base of chillies, onions, kaffir lime, star anise and loads of spices.

While Pumpkin Tales is popular for its Eggs Benedict prepared in five different ways, they have another star egg-dish in their menu. The Shakshuka, prepared with eggs, tomato sauce, apple, peppers, onion, cumin and parsley is flavourful and simple tantalizing. It is served along with brioche toast and greens. They even make a vegan version with tofu.

Pumpkin Tales has also added specialties from across the globe including Greek Souvlaki, the very British Chicken Roast and Mediterranean lamb plate.

We were absolutely spoilt for choice. Do check out the new menu this weekend!

Location: Address and Map Location

Timings: 7 am to 10.30 pm